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Malaysian Ambassador to the Philippines Melvin Castelino is urging ASEAN member-states to strengthen halal supply chain integration
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Digital information sharing among ports, customs authorities, and logistics operators could help maintain halal integrity by making shipment origins, documentation, and certification information more accessible
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This will open new market opportunities for ASEAN businesses, including Philippine small and medium enterprises
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Castelino identified the southern island of Mindanao, including the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, as potential halal production and investment hubs, particularly in agriculture, food processing, and logistics
Malaysian Ambassador to the Philippines Melvin Castelino is urging member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to strengthen halal supply chain integration through improved trade connectivity, digital traceability, and wider recognition of halal certification systems, saying these measures could expand opportunities for Philippine businesses, particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
In a presentation titled “Advancing the ASEAN Halal Supply Chain: Building Trust, Connectivity and Regional Competitiveness” at PASIAWORLD 2026 on October 9 at the SMX Convention Center Manila in Pasay City, Castelino said the region’s halal industry must move beyond product certification and develop a more integrated ecosystem covering manufacturing, logistics, storage, transportation, and distribution.
“In halal logistics, something else moves with the product, and this is called trust,” Castelino said.
He explained that consumers rely on halal certification not only as an assurance about a product’s ingredients but also as a guarantee that the production and handling processes comply with halal requirements.
A product may leave a factory fully compliant, he said, but its halal integrity must be maintained as it passes through warehouses, trucks, ports, cold storage facilities, and distribution centers.
“The halal logo tells us something about the product. The supply chain tells us whether the promise has been protected along the way,” Castelino said.
Trillion-dollar global halal market
The ambassador cited the expanding global halal market as an opportunity for ASEAN countries to strengthen their positions in manufacturing, trade, and logistics.
According to figures cited in his presentation, Muslim consumers spent about US$1.3 trillion on halal food in 2024, with spending projected to exceed $2 trillion by 2029. Consumer spending across the broader Islamic economy reached approximately $2.6 trillion.
Malaysia’s halal exports reached RM68.5 billion in 2025, equivalent to nearly $16 billion, Castelino said.
He attributed Malaysia’s development in the sector not only to product certification but also to the infrastructure and business ecosystem supporting halal production.
Muslim-majority Malaysia has nearly 14 Halmas-designated halal parks covering more than 14,000 hectares. These host more than 50 multinational companies and around 300 SMEs, according to the ambassador.
The parks bring manufacturing, halal compliance, supporting industries, logistics, and investment facilitation closer together, helping businesses reduce operational friction and costs.
Castelino said ASEAN countries could benefit from a similar approach by connecting their respective capabilities and making it easier for businesses to participate in regional halal trade.
Harmonizing systems, improving connectivity
Castelino said differences in national halal certification requirements and documentation procedures could create additional costs for businesses moving goods across ASEAN borders.
For multinational companies, these requirements may represent another compliance expense. For smaller producers attempting to enter export markets, however, the barriers could determine whether they can access those markets at all.
He said the goal should not be to establish a single halal authority for ASEAN but to improve cooperation and compatibility among existing national systems.
“The more useful objective is to make our systems understand each other better,” he said.
Greater interoperability would allow confidence in a product’s halal certification to carry across borders, reducing the need for repeated verification and facilitating regional trade.
Digitalization could support this process by improving the exchange of cargo information, documentation, origin details, and certification records among ports, customs authorities, and logistics operators.
Castelino cited the ASEAN Single Window, which enables the electronic exchange of trade-related documents among national systems, as an existing foundation for further integration.
He said the next step would be to make maritime and trade systems more interoperable so that relevant shipment information could reach receiving ports before cargo arrives.
For halal logistics, he said, shipments should carry not only certificates but also a reliable digital history that allows importers, warehouse operators, and regulators to verify how goods were handled throughout the supply chain.
Mindanao as halal hub
Castelino also identified the southern island of Mindanao, including the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), as potential production bases for the halal industry, citing opportunities in agriculture, food processing, logistics, and investment.
READ: Bangsamoro launches roadmap to becoming PH halal hub
He said the region could move beyond being a destination for finished products and develop its capacity to produce and supply halal goods to domestic and regional markets.
“BARMM does not have to think of itself simply as a market for a lot of products, it can be a production base,” Castelino said.
Shared infrastructure to help SMEs
The ambassador said investment in shared logistics facilities could help SMEs enter halal markets without having to develop their own costly supply chain infrastructure.
Potential investments include cold storage, reliable transportation, professionally managed warehouses, cargo consolidation services, and digital traceability platforms.
These facilities could allow smaller producers to access logistics services at lower cost while improving their ability to meet market requirements.—Michael Barcas
